back from the fair

I'm back from the fair... while i get settled in again, I'll point you to a simple papertoy i saw at the fair of a hydrogen fuel cell bus. Expect some updates on the eTUI during this week.

A few prototypes later...

...eTUI is born. Since the first change for the closing mechanism, i changed the system again. Without a larger faceplate at the top it just did not look right. A few of the prototypes also had some stability issues when opened/closed too often. The now final design looks like a traditional sheath and should be sturdy enough to be used quite a while.

This picture shows a template prototype i created for a friend. You can see the closing mechanism which is a flap you insert into the sheath. The whole top cover has additional flaps for stability inside. The opening at the top body part doubles as part of the closing mechanism and is used to be able to remove business cards with ease from the sheath with your thumb. There are a few other tiny things that are adding to the usability, I'll explain when i release the template.

The use for the sheath is to customize it as a gift for people, to pose as a sheath if you have to handle more then one type of card (eg. personal & company) and in addition i see a great use for them if you hand out stacks of your cards to people in your network. I don't know about you, but i keep small stacks of business cards from people i trust because of their good work and/or work together with often. So if someone asks me about someone to do a certain task, i can hand out cards from others to advertise their work. In my opinion this adds more value to the reference then just naming a website. Shouldn't it be great if you can hand out your cards in a nice sheath? Will make it even easier for others to advertise you.

business card sheath, WiP

The earlier mentioned iPod Shuffle papertoy is on hold for a while. The design is nearly done, but i lack the inspiration for the illustration at the moment. So in the meantime i went back to the business card sheath out of paper. It will be able to hold approx. 25 business cards. While not exactly a papertoy, it will be easy to customize and might be a great gift for friends or business partners. I had quite a hassle with the closing mechanism, while my initial idea of a kind of paper-hook-flap works very well with larger models, it's not really "durable" on a tiny thing like a sheath. The template design is done with the fact in mind to hold a few days on a fair and you'll open/close the damn thing quite often. The mechanism i decided on now is a bit different from what you can see on the picture - which show the evolution from the earliest models - which is a bit of a bummer, as i wanted to have a kind of larger shutter so you can use it as a part of a mouth design. But as paper itself is a bit fragile, the main priority is that it can be used for some time and won't fall apart. I did not decide yet if I'll post the empty template right away or finish a small series of designs first... I'll keep you posted.

Poseable Paper Pope

Hehe.. today i stumbled upon a DIY paper pope with a bunch of accessoires. While being more a 2D papertoy, it's funny nontheless. You can download the pope as a PDF at the link. The designer Rob Nance does also offer a paper Hasselhoff there, perfect for that colleague you never liked anyway.

Bringing the 2nd 3rd-Dimension to papertoys

There are so many great papertoys out there, you probably could take a week off and won't be able to build them all. One really cool thing is when the models use different "layers" of perspective to give an even better 3D-feeling. If you're still unsure what I'm referring to have a look at the Macula Squealer series or this work in progress from Matt Hawkins. The use of different layers for eg. the hair, the mouth or other parts of the body while done with paper and not texture really appeals to me. I definately need to use that technique more in upcoming papertoys.
And if things go wrong i can still use duct tape to fix everything. ;)

NiceBunny HedKase with gasmask

I'm invited for breakfast today and as the host has a.. hum.. interesting collection of gasmasks and stuff i figured, what better to bring then a NiceBunny HedKase with accessoire? Fitting for today Brian had his very own April fool with me: I printed out the bunny on A4 and thought the accessoires will fit then as well - who likes to read instructions anyway? Well... they did, somehow.. but apparently it was not correct like this. Ah well, i blame it on the strange measures they got on that lil' island to the west. ;) And the mask was the important part anyway.

With summer around the corner, it's best to prepare now. Did you ever heard about a Guerrilla Drive-in aka a MobMov (mobile movie)? It's a small movement of people that start their own public drive-in cinema. Sounds like fun? I think it is...
Start a Guerrilla Drive-in
Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-In
MobMov outdoor cinema

World of Warcraft Papercrafts

Today i discovered a blog that's devoted entirely to papercrafts from models of the popular World of Warcraft MMORPG. Some very cool things to build over there... really nice. :)
Check it here:
World of Warcraft Papercraft.

Despite some artists don't like Pepakura, as it's easier to build some models with it, there are communities out there that build entire Formula 1 car racing teams with it or create their most favorite characters from computer games. Some of the stuff that surfaces like this is a lot of fun to buid.

I also stumbled over some mech-robots papertoys at Mechwarrior3.org.

iPod Shuffle papertoy - work in progress

Well, after toying around with the eggotastic family i thought it's time for a more functional papertoy again next. On the small picture you can see part of a papertoy you'll be able to integrate your iPod Shuffle in. ;) I'm not sure yet when it will be finished tho. I also have a nearly finished design for a very cool business card sheath in the works, but am thinking about keeping that one until i created a small series for it.

Until the iPS papertoy is ready, you can check out other papercrafts you can build free for your iPod:
IPod Touch Paper Cradle
DIY iPod stand
The $100 iPhone & iPod Touch Stand

eggotastic - blank template & bunny disguise

After i added the blank template for the eggotastic model, i created another one. With Easter close i figured the eggotastic alien should disguise as a bunny to blend in. Download the new template from the original eggotastic post. Enjoy your weekend!

eggotastic - deranged alien egg

First day of spring, crazy things can happen... like a deranged alien egg from outer space tries to blend in by posing as a chicken egg with an eggshell hat. Here is my newest papertoy: eggotastic - the deranged alien egg.

I never intended to create this model, it just evolved from a few things i was trying out for other papertoys i was working on. The idea of the hat evolved from a kind of sword i was working on and i needed a half-round sphere-like object for it. Looking at the first tryout i thought "heh, would make a nice hat with antennae."

The body is a hexagonal bifrustum (yes, i had to look that one up as well *g*) and evolved while playing around with square-edged shapes, trying to make them look round-shaped - as those are easier to build. Together with Easter approaching the idea of an alien egg resulted in the model you can build now.

EDIT: I cleaned up the files and added a blank template. Should you create your own, drop me a comment here.

EDIT2: After i uploaded the blank template i had the idea for a pink eggotastic in a bunny disguise, added that one to the downloads as well. This version got a fur hat with bunny ears instead of the eggshell one.

Download here:
 eggotastic "green alien egg"
 eggotastic "pink bunny disguise"
 eggotastic "blank"
(just choose the FREE option)

The Wicked Wench sailing home?

While reading through some papercraft blogs, i saw a post at Papercraft Paradise stating that the Disney Experience paper store will close at March 22nd. The site has some great models and is not affiliated with Disney. The news are not explicit enough if they'll only stop selling some models or if also the free models will vanish as well. So best grab those you like now... better save than sorry. There are some pics of those models in this flickr album.

Dr. Shazam released his first papertoy called Sparky, a cool match... I already printed mine.

On a personal note, I'll release my next papertoy probably tomorrow. It evolved while i was testing a few designs for a certain sword i wanted to create for another model and together with some tests in SketchUp something totally different was created from there... associative modeling from its wierdest. ;)

Crazy Antlor

After watching Episode 29: Paper Cuts at toybreak (and rambling a bit about Mr. "Marvin" cougar bait at nicepapertoys) i had a look at their forum and stumbled across a custom for Kenn Munk's Antlors i had not seen before. Check it out from Dr. A at spookypop.com, looks weird. ;)

While I'm still surprised my BC Butler design was now downloaded around 300 times already, like i expected the cookie caskets did not spark that much interest. But then again, they're not exactly papertoys.. hehe.

Paper Masks with reflexive Tape

Today i saw this cool gallery of huge paper masks, which were used for a video of Nação Zumbi (Dinamo Filmes), that use reflexive tape to accomplish an even cooler look. Using papercraft to create masks is another great thing you can do, some time ago i saw a Guy Fawkes Paper Craft Mask created with Pepakura. But I'm sure there are even better masks out there. Should be great to create some in old venetian mask style.

As you might have noticed, i took some time to add further websites to the link list on the right. Still not complete, but getting there.

Pirate Wedding Papercraft

During the weekend i was invited to a wedding and i used parts of the Canon Balance Game to create a wedding gift. The coins in front were supposed to look like waves being more blue, but i did not had the correct paint at hand. Well, it looked cute nontheless and the couple was happy i hope. ;) Check out the Canon Papercraft Website, they got a bunch of great papercrafts.

Some time ago i talked about this bunny ninja paper model i have in mind and did some sketches on, being an hommage to Usagi Yojimbo... i just saw there is a nice papertoy at cubeecraft.com with the same character.

scavenger hunt to involve customers/fans

Recently i had a discussion with a friend about internet marketing and ways to involve customers/fans more & regularly with your website. Beside many things like related to postcardware and others we also discussed internet scavenger hunts. It's rather easy to do and if not "overdone" it can be fun for the visitors of your website as well. But of course there has to be a carrot dangling in front of the user. Something to collect, either in parts or after collecting clues through a hidden weblink. Maybe another idea for a papertoy, to split it up in parts and hide it all over your website - even better if the parts can be used on its own or like putting together that enormous robot you always dreamed about. What is it btw that connects robots and papercraft? Seems there are tons of robot models out there.. just because of the shape?

I'm always amazed about the creative work some people do. IMO it's fun how many people start their own design lines for toys. Just a few days ago i saw some pictures from Ben's Speakerdog Exhibition At Go Go Plastic! Check out the pics and if you reside close to Birmingham i suggest you head over and have a look. great stuff - love the colorful plots!

Cookie Caskets!

Alright, probably I'm the only one who thinks this is funny... but who cares? =)
While writing an answer to a discussion over at Nice Paper Toys i came up with the spontaneous idea to create paper cookies. While the first version was a more complicated model (sides in a more complex shape) i thought about my recent discussion concerning papertoys and function. So i came up with the idea to create paper cookies that serve as a casket for one larger cookie to be given as a gift. The bottom is blank, so you can also write a small message on it. The casket looks like a cookie itself and you could also just use them as paper cookies. There're large flaps that serve as a "open/close mechanism" for easy access to the cookie content.

"Sometimes me think what is love, and then me think love is what last cookie is for. Me give up the last cookie for you."
                         - Cookie Monster

I changed the shape to a simple one as this will make it very easy to customize your own cookie in about 15 minutes. Just take a picture of your favorite cookie and customize one (download the blank template) - if you do, please post it here. Wouldn't it be great to be able to use a bowl of several different paper cookies instead of those ugly wax apples?!? ;) I created two cookies for the start... looking forward to see more.

Download here:
 cookie casket "chocolate"
 cookie casket "colors"
 cookie casket "blank"
(just choose the FREE option)

BC Butler

My first own paper model was supposed to be a kind of kung-fu bunny (an hommage to Usagi Yojimbo), but after recently thinking about functional papertoys i got inspired by the C3 Biz Card Holder and the toxic-myk model and put the bunny on hold. Therefore i decided to create another model first, my own business card display: The BC Butler.

I tried to create the model sturdy enough to be of real use offering business cards and not to collapse after a withdrawal. An additional challenge was to split up the model as it won't fit on one page, being designed for a certain size of business cards. The model will hold approx. 50 cards in his tray. I'm not satisfied with the look of the hands holding the tray - tried to use white gloves - but I'm not much of a illustrator. I'll upload an empty model for customization tomorrow, maybe someone will create a better texture - or an alien for a scifi-shop.. hehe. Of course feedback on the model is welcome.

Download here:
BC Butler original
BC Butler blank
(just choose the FREE option)

ambient art made of papercraft

I'm in the process of building the DHM version of the e440. Ringo was so nice and did send me a bunch of e440 models i asked for. Looking at his website and the adidas model he did (but does not share *sobs*, probably due to legal brand issues) it got me thinking about papermodels not being used as toys but more as a kind of art objects for the living space.
I have a friend whose living room uses a lot of black & white. Two of those adidas e440 or maybe even the DHM model would look great on his sideboard. Paper in all kinds of shapes is already being used as "ambient art" for all kinds of lamps, even Ikea has a lot of paper made lamps and those that look like it, but use plastic. So why not build more abstract paper models you can use as ambient art for your living room? I know there are lots of models out there representing all kinds of geometric shapes... just never saw one using them in his living room. And maybe even better those models could have a function, like offer a stand for your iPod (also available as boombox) or maybe a place for your keys? Should be fun to work on a model that's not just a toy, but has "function".